Z.ai's secret AI model Ox Alpha was running on Chinese chips all along
The model topped OpenRouter usage charts anonymously before Z.ai claimed it and released its weights on Wednesday
In January 2026, Z.ai chairman and cofounder Liu Debing marked the company's debut on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. The mystery AI model Ox Alpha was actually Z.ai's new GLM-5.3-Flash model, which it revealed after days of speculation. Ox Alpha was free to try, impressing users with its coding abilities and remaining mysterious enough to leave developers guessing.
The Beijing AI company confirmed that Ox Alpha was its GLM-5.3-Flash model, which runs on Chinese AI chips despite US technology restrictions. Z.ai was founded in 2019 based on technology developed at Tsinghua University in Beijing and went public in January, with its shares trading at around HK$1,100, nine times its IPO price. The company reports its results on June 15th, 2026.
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